Matsubayashi Shue

[Aaron Gerow]

The Asahi reports this morning that the director Matsubayashi Shue  
passed away on the 15th at the age of 89. The son of a Buddhist  
priest, Matsubayashi studied at Nihon University before entering the  
Toho Studios in 1942. He joined the Navy during the war, becoming an  
ensign, a position in command that provided him the background for  
many of the war films he directed after the war, including Ningen  
gyorai Kaiten (1955) and Rengo Kantai (1981). He rejoined Toho after  
the war, eventually debuting as a director in 1952. In addition to war  
films, he also specialized in comedy, helming many of the "Shacho" or  
"Company President" films. In terms of the box office, he was one of  
the most successful directors at Toho, so a farewell ceremony will be  
held on Stage 8 of the Toho Studios (the largest sound stage in Japan  
and the site of the filming of many of Toho's great works from the  
1950s on) on September 10.

Aaron Gerow
KineJapan owner

Associate Professor
Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
Yale University

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